Publishing Sites… Pt1.

This particular post is somewhat of a diversion from my usual stories and book review posts.

Many of the bloggers on WordPress, though by no means all, are new and aspiring writers, debut & self-published authors, poets, and writers of short and flash fiction stories covering many different genres. What I’ve tried to do here is compile a list and brief resume of some of the online publishing sites I’ve come across in my reading and researches. I won’t pretend to have personal experience of any of these sites, but all of have been reviewed in various writing magazines and other places; some of them are indeed WordPress blogs as well, and it is up to the reader to judge for themselves the individual merits of each one.

Whilst I honestly doubt publication on any of the following will automatically lead to literary fame and fortune, just as it doesn’t even with the more traditional publishing houses, but anything that leads to a wider reading audience and public awareness of one’s writing might well be a first step on the way…

I hope some of you who read this posting and look at any of the sites listed find the success you are looking for and deserve. This is just a very small sample of the publishing resources out there, and if any readers discover new ones not listed here please drop me a line so that I might add them. Likewise, the web being what it is, if any of these links should become inactive, feel free to let me know also. Thanks…

This is a simple website that runs a number of flash fiction and short story writing competitions. There are also links to a number of other useful websites for aspiring writers. Fish publishing also produces an annual anthology of winning stories, memoirs, flash fiction, and poetry.

Shock Totem: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted, is US based, and is published twice yearly as a high quality print digest magazine,and is pretty much dedicated to horror and dark fantasy, including mystery, suspense, supernatural, morbid humour, and fantasy.

As well as short stories (up to 5000 words), and flash fiction (up to 1000 words), and micro-fiction (up to 200 words), shock totem also accepts non-fiction pieces (up to 2,500 words) on topics such as disease, poverty, horror, and dark fantasy.

This is a US based small press for electronic publication via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. They invite submissions for novellas (15,000 – 40,000 words) in the following genres: horror, erotic horror, dark crime, and fantasy.

Not So Noble Books, is, to quote them, ‘an independent publisher of e-books that don’t conform.’

They publish exclusively on Amazon. Although they mainly publish books that would not normally be accepted by mainstream publishers, books as they put it, that don’t conform or necessarily fit in with mainstream categories, they are also willing to accept unsolicited manuscripts in the mainstream genres of: romance, thriller, horror, and others (inquire with them directly).

They will also look at short stories, but generally prefer full-length fiction.

As well as fiction they also publish a few academic and philosophical titles.

This is a US based digital publisher specializing in YA (young adult), NA (new adult), and romance. They also accept Sci-Fi, fantasy, and urban fantasy providing they contain a strong romantic element to them.

They publish 3-4 titles per month.

They are looking for YA and NA submissions of between 50,000 – 90,000 words.

Other submissions of 10,000 words for novellas and 120,000 words for novels.

TTA Press is a UK based publisher, and publishes Interzone, Britain’s longest running Science Fiction & Fantasy magazine, as well as two other publications, Black Static, magazine concentrating on horror, and Crimewave, which is published twice a year as an American Royal paperback

They are now accepting submissions via their webpage.

They also publish a small but growing number of books, including novels, anthologies, collections, and the ongoing TTA Novellas.

Note:As well as posting this here, because I intend to update and add to these sites on a monthly basis, I shall be adding this post to a page of its own (Online Publishing Sites) on my blog as a permanent reference point –

I really loved your post and thanks for the links 🙂
Hey, are you interested for writing a college magazine, we are inviting guest writers, the magazine is called Graffiti. Email me if you are interested: amandeepmittal@live.com

Nicely done Paul. I’ve done a similar thing with my blogroll; in so far as I list blogs I follow, plus any site that might be useful that I’ve had some personal experience with.
If you do manage to set this up as a ‘reference’ page on your blog, you will be providing a great service for many who either; don’t find the time to check out publishers, or they’re not sure what to look for.
Once again, on behalf of the silent majority – thanks mate.

Hi Tom…
Thanks again for your encouraging words and advice; I did see you’ve got a list of helpful sites on your page, and yes, it’s something i want to work on when time allows. As for a blogroll, again it’s something i intend to do once I figure out how (I’m pretty naff when it comes to page layout, widgets, and such-like).
BTW…. nearly finished “Beyond the Law..” Without putting too fine a point on it, it’s awesome (my favourite read this year so far)!